Kamen Rider from the ancient times

"Hey, snap out of it—Demon King!"

The sudden sound in his ear made Tokiwa Sougo instinctively turn his head to look.

Tsukasa Kadoya said to him with a stern expression, "No matter what your identity is, the most important thing now is to protect the history of Kamen Rider from this guy!"

Tokiwa Sougo's eyes flickered: "I know... I just need to understand what I have to do!"

Regarding the question of why he was chosen as a substitute to become "King," Tokiwa Sougo didn't actually have a strong feeling about it. He was just a little confused about how this inexplicable thing happened.

So after saying that, Tokiwa Sougo changed his previous absent-mindedness, took out the Time Driver, put it on, and started the Grand ZiO Ridewatch with a determined expression.

GrandZi-O!

As this power was released, a huge golden clock and a clay-sculpted Kamen Rider statue rose up from behind Tokiwa Sougo. The moment the clock hands diverged, he shouted in his signature transformation pose.

"Henshin!"

Rumbling--

Like a magnificent hall celebrating history, the statues of twenty Kamen Riders, from Kuuga to ZiO, lined up behind him. Then, the mud on their surfaces gradually dissipated, revealing the true forms of the Kamen Riders.

『Kuuga! AgitΩ! Ryuki! Faiz! Blade! Hibiki! Kabuto! Den-O! Kiva! Decade!』

"W!" OOO! Fourze! Wizard! Armor! Drive! Ghost! Ex-Aid! Build! 』

『Kamen Ride——』

GrandZi-O!

The Kamen Rider statue, stripped of its mud and debris, flipped into golden plaques, then transformed into light that surged into Tokiwa Sougo's body, where the sacred golden radiance coalesced into a magnificent form.

—Kamen Rider ZiO Grand Form!
Kawahara, who had been lost in thought, came back to his senses, glanced at Kamen Rider ZiO beside him, and then looked at another demon king on the high platform who had a similar posture to ZiO.

Faced with Tokiwa Sougo transformed into Grand ZiO, the Time Manager made no reaction, merely raising a hand contemptuously in anticipation of his resistance.

Tokiwa Sougo clenched his fist and charged forward like a golden streak of light, throwing a punch at the Timekeeper!
Kamen Rider Barlckxs stood motionless, and just as ZiO's fist was about to smash into his face, he suddenly raised his hand, grabbed the other's fist, and swung it away!
The immense force crashed down on him, and Tokiwa Sougo, who had charged forward, was thrown back in the same way.

He tumbled awkwardly down the slope of the platform to the ground, and after quickly getting up, he looked in astonishment at Kamen Rider Barlckxs, who was still standing there looking down at him.

"how come……"

He had only ever felt this overwhelming power, which was completely irresistible, in Oma Zi-O in 2068.

"Heh, I told you, the power of all the Heisei Kamen Riders is useless against me!"

Kamen Rider Barlckxs sneered.

"Since that's the case, then—"

Tokiwa Sougo quickly stood up, raised his hand and pressed the Rider nameplate on the armor. In an instant, Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Fourze, Kamen Rider Kiva and Kamen Rider Build, who were inspired by the power of ZiO, materialized respectively.

The summoned Kamen Riders are driven by the will of ZiO Grand ZiO and possess strength equal to that of the original Riders, and can assist in battle as allies.

Five Kamen Riders charged toward the Timekeeper from all directions, but just as Tokiwa Sougo was about to touch him again, Kamen Rider Barlckxs suddenly swung out a palm!
"boom--"

As if an invisible impact swept across, the four summoned Kamen Riders, who were halfway through their charge, suddenly turned into light and disappeared.

At the same time, the Emperor ZiO, shaken by this force, was once again sent flying back down the slope, his armor gradually disintegrating into a patch of light.

It wasn't until he fell back onto the plaza that Tokiwa Sougo realized what was happening, staring wide-eyed at his own body.

The power of the Supreme Emperor ZiO has vanished from him!

The golden dial on the Time Driver disappeared, and Tokiwa Sougo, forced to deactivate his transformation, looked down and slowly realized that even the Time Driver on his waist was gone.

--how so?!

"I think I understand now. It seems that the Kamen Riders from the Heisei era are all limited by the power of these time managers."

Tsukasa Kadoya glanced at Sougo Tokiwa, who had lost his ZiO watch head, raised his hand, took out the Decade Driver and put it on, then took out a Rider Card from the Rider Card Box at his waist.

A firm and confident smile appeared on his lips as he lightly tapped the card twice with his fingertips—Kamen Rider 1!
"In that case, let's use this one!"

Tsukasa Kadoya forcefully flung the card away!
Swah——

The magenta Decade Driver on his waist suddenly disappeared, and the Kamen Rider 1 card wobbled to the ground. Realizing he was empty, Tsukasa Kadoya looked down in bewilderment.

Not only is the Decade Driver gone, but even the Knight Card Box that holds the cards is gone.

What a pity!

The Time Manager spread his arms playfully and said, "Kamen Rider Decade, you're also a Kamen Rider from the Heisei era!"

Tsukasa Kadoya's power is his own, but Kamen Rider Decade's power is released through a medium created by Dai-Shocker.

So what's the use of having the power of the Riders from the Showa era if you still can't transform!
After a long period of stunned silence, Tsukasa Kadoya seemed to come to his senses and subconsciously glanced at Kawahara beside him.

"It seems you don't understand anything."

Kawahara said in a low voice without turning his head.

Tsukasa Kadoya: "..."

Kamen Rider Barlckxs then raised his arms high, his arrogant voice echoing throughout the entire square.

"Accept your fate, Kamen Riders of the Heisei era!"

He raised his voice mockingly, "We Timekeepers are here to erase the power of Heisei Riders for the sake of this world! Listen to this—nobody here wants you Kamen Riders to exist!"

As his pronouncement faded, the crowd surrounding the three men in the square erupted in shouts once more, the cacophony of voices as chaotic and indistinct as a tidal wave.

But the intense and restless emotions were transmitted.

Tokiwa Sougo seemed to snap out of his daze, looking at the ordinary people who were rushing towards them with righteous indignation with a complicated expression.

—Disappear! Disappear! Disappear!
No need! No need! No need!
Those voices, like a curse, pierced their eardrums, violently shaking their hearts. They simply couldn't imagine that these were the words spoken by the people they were protecting.

"Did you hear that?!"

The Timekeeper shouted again, "The new world no longer needs you old-era Kamen Riders! The history of the Heisei generation of Kamen Riders will be completely forgotten, whether it's Kuuga or ZiO—disappear!!"

Rumble————!
As the Timekeeper's final roar faded, torches rose from the high platform into the plaza, their celebratory flames igniting the surrounding air.

Several devastating demon machines appeared in all directions, but these destructive machines, which instilled fear in all civilians on the apocalyptic battlefield of 2068, did not elicit any rejection from the people at this moment.

At Kamen Rider Barlckxs's signal, the Time Managers, dressed in gray-green robes, raised their hands and manipulated these Great Demon Machines to fly high above the altar, assembling them into an enormous mechanical ring device.

After the mechanical ring device was formed, a black hole-like energy slowly flowed from its empty center, seemingly influencing the world.

"What's this……"

Tokiwa Sougo looked up with a furrowed brow.

Kamen Rider Barlckxs grinned maliciously, "That's a history reset device. Everything is ready. Right now, of course, it's to reset the history of all the Kamen Riders of the Heisei generation!"

At this moment, eighteen clay statues rose up around the altar-like platform, each representing a different Kamen Rider, from Kuuga to Den-O, and from W to Build!
Upon seeing these statues, Kawahara's eyes widened in surprise, his gaze fixed on Kamen Rider Kuuga, who was striking a signature battle pose in the center.

"You manipulated Sougo and deliberately allowed the actions of the Super Time Jacker Teed, all in order to gather all the Kamen Riders of the Heisei era into one person, and also to gather them into one world?" Kawahara suddenly questioned in a low voice.

"Oh? It seems you've already figured it out."

The Time Manager laughed a few times and said, "That's right! With all these Kamen Riders gathered together, their timelines and histories can be easily erased all at once! Forget it! Everyone in this world, including you, begin to forget! The history of the Heisei generation of Kamen Riders will soon be completely wiped away! Decade, ZiO, you too—"

“Rumble——!!!”

Before the arrogant Kamen Rider Barlckxs could finish speaking, he was suddenly struck by a thick, dark bolt of lightning!

The time controllers standing around in gray-green robes were all thrown away by the blast wave. The entire platform shattered instantly in the explosion, with stone bricks and soil fragments flying everywhere, and flames billowing in the thick smoke also shooting into the sky.

The sudden explosion caught everyone off guard, and the cheering crowd in the square fell silent. Tsukasa Kadoya and Sougo Tokiwa also looked at the platform in surprise.

When the smoke and flames dissipated.

In the center of the high platform, where a deep crater had been blasted out, the dark, menacing warrior gripped Kamen Rider Barlckxs's neck, pinning him to the ground. "But you seem to have forgotten—"

Kuuga stared at him with his dark red, gloomy compound eyes: "I am not a Kamen Rider of the Heisei era."

Perhaps "Kamen Rider Kuuga" represents the first Kamen Rider of the Heisei era, but Kuuga is not, and neither is Agul.

He is a warrior who has existed since the ancient times!

The restrained Kamen Rider Barlckxs, after instinctively struggling in panic due to the sudden impact, suddenly calmed down and grinned maliciously upon hearing his words.

"Yeah……"

The Timekeeper grabbed his arm and lifted his upper body, his compound eyes, composed of characters, flashing with a malicious dark light, and his lowered voice sounded particularly sinister.

"You forgot, Kamen Rider Arc!"

"You are the one who should never have appeared in Kamen Rider history, so regarding your history, your time, your existence—"

"It was erased long ago!"

After saying this, Kamen Rider Barlckxs suddenly burst into laughter. He grabbed Kawahara's arm, which was pressed against his neck, and flipped over, easily pinning Kuuga to the ground.

Golden light emanated from the dark Kuuga. After the power guided by the Golden Fruit became ineffective under the Time Manager's influence, the ferocious warrior's posture also dissipated.

Kawahara reverted to his human form, his expression somewhat dazed, as if he had suddenly realized something he had been ignoring.

He really forgot—

The time-altering machine incident triggered by Narutaki.

Due to the power of Decade's world and the time power of the history-altering machine, his existence in the Kamen Rider world was erased by the other party.

Although using the Golden Fruit at the last minute resulted in him accidentally returning to the world he originally lived in.

However, Kawahara did not know whether any consequences had occurred at that time due to that force.

But if the power of the Gold-Gold Fruit disappeared because the history of the Heisei generation of Kamen Riders was altered, then his current existence should also disappear...

Kawahara, who was thinking about this, suddenly came back to his senses and saw that the Kamen Rider statues around him were beginning to shatter. However, instead of peeling off stone chips to reveal the true form inside, they directly turned into a pile of mud and dust and collapsed and dissipated.

Kamen Rider Barlckxs also noticed this scene. He turned around, glanced at it, and laughed loudly, "It's already begun!"

History has been reset!

It's like a physical manifestation of time being forgotten, starting with Kamen Rider Build, then Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Ghots, Kamen Rider Drive, and then Kamen Rider Gaim...

The Kamen Riders, who once fought to protect the world and humanity, are now collapsing and crumbling before people's eyes, along with their world and beliefs.

The entire square fell silent. The people gathered around also fell silent, their blank stares suggesting they were observing a boring festival, even if it was a Kamen Rider they once admired.

Do not--

Perhaps there will always be people who can't like Kamen Rider.

But the Kamen Riders don't resent this, because they never do anything to gain anyone's favor.

They were just following their own feelings.

And his feelings at this moment are—

What is it?
In that instant, Kawahara even realized that his memories were also being lost. The images of the Kamen Riders he had interacted with back then flashed through his mind one after another, and then the images gradually became faint and blurry, until finally they could not be found at all.

Is it possible to forget even fictional characters that you once saw on TV?

Yes……

If all the Kamen Riders of the Heisei era were to be erased, then naturally even fictional stories could no longer exist.

Even the fictional parts are fake...

Seemingly sensing that Kawahara had unconsciously relaxed his struggle, Kamen Rider Barlckxs, who had been suppressing him, released him listlessly and continued to declare to the people in the plaza below.

"Alright, let's begin the celebration!"

"From this moment forward, the history of Kamen Rider in the Heisei era will be completely erased, and a brand new era is about to begin. It will be the first Kamen Rider that we have created with our own hands!"

"In that case, his name will be—"

"Zero-One!"

"Zero-One!"

"Zero-One!"

The crowd in the square cheered again, without a moment's regret for the memories being erased by the history reset device, nor for the impending disappearance of the Heisei generation of Kamen Riders.

Because a new era is about to begin!

A unified Kamen Rider, whose story is completely controlled by them, is about to be born!
Kamen Rider Barlckxs excitedly raised his arm, and the statues of more than a dozen Kamen Riders from the Heisei era shattered and collapsed behind him one by one. But his armor, which looked like it was cast in gold and bronze and resembled ZiO, already possessed the power of the entire Heisei era. He was the one that the Timekeeper called the true Demon King!
The Demon King brought an end to the Heisei era of Kamen Rider!

“You’re kidding—!!”

A loud roar suddenly rang out from below the platform.

Kamen Rider Barlckxs looked down and saw Tokiwa Sougo staggering to his feet. When Tokiwa looked up at him, there was a Kamen Rider's will in his eyes that made Barlckxs impatient.

"ZiO, you are just a substitute chosen by me to eliminate the Heisei generation of Kamen Riders. Your ridiculous dream of becoming king is over!" the Time Manager sneered.

"I never became king to destroy Kamen Rider. I wanted to become king simply because I wanted to protect what I wanted to protect!"

With unwavering determination, Tokiwa Sougo extends one hand: "I want to become king, to protect the history of the Heisei generation of Kamen Riders!"

As he finished speaking these solemn and resolute words, Tokiwa Sougo reached out and grasped a dark gold driver's watch that exuded a repressive aura.

OhmaZi-O!

"what?!"

Kamen Rider Barlckxs stared in astonishment at the scene, clearly not expecting his opponent to still be able to unleash his power.

As Tokiwa Sougo looked at the watch, he suddenly seemed to realize something, and the Time Driver, which should have disappeared, reappeared from his waist.

Without further hesitation, after fastening the Ridewatch to his belt, Tokiwa Sougo slowly assumed his familiar transformation stance.

Although there was no clock light effect this time, the ticking sound of hands moving could be heard from the void.

"Henshin!"

With a loud shout, he flicked the Time Driver with his descending hand, and for a moment the entire space seemed to freeze. A colossal ZiO statue, hundreds of meters tall, rose from behind Tokiwa Sougo!

Standing next to him, Tsukasa Kadoya looked up in astonishment; the effect was indeed a bit exaggerated.

King Time!

『KamenRider Zi-O!』

In a daze, time began to flow again, and the huge stone statue transformed into a track-like halo of light that surrounded Tokiwa Sougo, assembling a new ZiO armor on his body.

—Kamen Rider ZiO Oma Form!
It's not Oma ZiO, but ZiO that possesses the power of Oma ZiO.

Compared to the oppressive and profound dark gold form of Oma Zi-O, ZiO's current platinum form is more radiant and righteous. He slowly raised his head and looked up, his only unchanging magenta compound eyes meeting those of Kamen Rider Barlckxs on the high platform.

Although the latter held a superior position, at this moment, he felt as if he were being suppressed and trembled.

This alternative...

Why do they possess this power?

Was it simply because he became a Kamen Rider?
...(End of chapter)